Frankly, there were only three questions ahead of the Chinese weekend.
1. Can Ferrari, with its lightning-fast race start, challenge for a sprint victory?
2. Who will finish third in the Sunday race?
3. What will the FIA decide regarding the two races in the Middle East?
The Sprint race.
While Kimi Antonelli had another poor race start, and the two Ferraris easily passed Russell, the British driver won the Sprint race effortlessly, as Leclerc passed Hamilton for P2 and Kimi had to settle for fifth. Oscar Piastri finished sixth for McLaren, Liam Lawson seventh for Racing Bulls, and Oliver Bearman eighth for Haas. Max Verstappen came home in ninth, just outside the points.
The Race. More drama followed on Sunday.
There was a bit of qualifying drama on Saturday, too. Russell faced some reliability issues in Q3, allowing Kimi to grab the pole, yet Mercedes secured the front row ahead of the two Ferraris and two McLarens. Gasly qualified a surprising seventh for Alpin, ahead of the two Red Bulls, with Ollie Berman in tenth for Haas.
The bottom of the pile was occupied by the two Cadillacs, two Aston Martins and two Williams.
Piastri and Norris have failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix due to pre-race reliability problems. Gabriel Bortoleto for Audi and Alex Albon for Williams also stayed in the garage, missing out on the race due to technical issues.
As expected, the race start put the two Ferraris in the lead, but first Antonelli, then Russell cruised back into the lead, securing a solid one-two for Mercedes. Hamilton and Leclerc battled for most of the race for P3; eventually, the British driver seized the final podium position, his first for Ferrari in a race. It was an entertaining wheel-to-wheel battle, although only between teammates. Hamilton coming out on top was an unexpected pleasant surprise.
Kimi Antonelli delivered an almost faultless drive and won his first race for Mercedes.
It was a good day for Lewis and Kimi.
Max Verstappen had a terrible start, falling back from eighth to fourteenth. Till lap 10, he wrestled his way back to 11, but with an unlucky first pit stop, one lap before the Safety Car, he fell back to 16 again. Fighting his way back into the points, the Red Bull car eventually broke down on lap 46. His young apprentice, Isack Hadjar, finished in an honourable eighth, considering the circumstances.
Likewise, excellent performance from Oliver Bearman in fifth, Pierre Gasly in sixth, Liam Lawson in seventh, Carlos Sainz with a great recovery in ninth, and Franco Colapinto bringing the second Alpine into the points.
We saw Fernando Alonso driving on the straight with his hands off the wheel. It was painful to watch. He abandoned in lap 34, while Stroll gave up the struggle in lap 10. Aston Martin and Honda have a mountain to climb.
The FIA.
F1 had been set to go to Bahrain for April 10-12 before Saudi Arabia, a week later, but eventually decided to cancel both races instead of replacing them. It’s clearly another anti-Mercedes decision. F1 will have an unexpected month break from Suzuka on March 29 to Miami on May 3. It will give the other 10 teams time to close the gap to the leading team. I bet that if it had been any other team upfront, we would see races at Imola and Portimao. With the new method for measuring the compression ratio set to be implemented in June, these are clear blows to Mercedes. Disfavouring one team means favouring the others. Nevertheless, F1 was never a fair game. Remember Abu Dhabi 2021? However, we can never know how these behind-the-scenes dirty games may backfire.
In two weeks’ time, 27-29 March, see you at Suzuka, Japan. Let’s guess who will finish third next time.
1 Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
2 George Russell, Mercedes +5.5
3 Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +25.2
4 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +28.8
5 Oliver Bearman, Haas +57.2
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine, +59.6
7 Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +80.5
8 Isack Hadjar, Red Bull +87.2
9 Carlos Sainz, Williams +1 lap
10 Franco Colapinto, Alpine +1 lap
11 Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +1 lap
12 Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +1 lap
13 Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac +1 lap
14 Sergio Perez, Cadillac +1 lap
15 Esteban Ocon, Haas +1 lap
Did not finish:
Max Verstappen, Red Bull, lap 46
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, lap 34
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, lap 10
Did not start:
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Lando Norris, McLaren
Alex Albon, Williams
Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi
Team standings:
Mercedes – 98
Ferrari – 67
McLaren – 18
Haas – 17
Red Bull Racing – 12
Racing Bulls – 12
Alpine – 10
Audi – 2
Williams – 2
Cadillac – 0
Aston Martin – 0
#F1 #FormulaOne
